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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23973403">Finding Footing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/naturaliz35/pseuds/naturaliz35'>naturaliz35</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bucky's Arm, Living Together, One Shot, Slice of Life, Steve and Bucky are rich, girl scout cookies, mostly headcanons, they're practically married</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:07:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23973403</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/naturaliz35/pseuds/naturaliz35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of small scenes from Steve and Bucky's life together. Fluff, crack, comfort, the works. Pretty much married life. </p><p> </p><p>In most of the stories, Infinity War and Endgame happened, but nobody died and Steve wasn't dumb. However, some of them might be Endgame compliant, and some might be non compliant in way different way.s</p><p>Marked as a complete work because every piece is stand alone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Finding Footing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>These are mostly from an "everything's over, but the ending was 100% happy" standpoint. Domestic life, etc.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Old Habits Die Hard</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>(So why kill them?)</strong>
</p><p>Steve and Bucky were raised in the Great Depression. They had to save money, save resources. You didn't do foolish things like throw out a sock because it had a rip in it. You mended it. (Both Steve and Bucky knew how to sew.) Living in the future, well, this was new. But they still fell back into old habits. They only went out to eat on payday. If Steve ripped a shirt during a fight (which happened quite regularly), Bucky would fix it. No need to waste a perfectly good shirt. </p><p>One night, Bucky and Steve were relaxing in the common living room with a few of their teammates. Even if the world didn't really need the Avengers, they were friends. Bucky was sitting half in Steve's lap, mending a sock. Steve ran his fingers gently through Bucky's hair. </p><p>"You know, tomorrow's payday. We could go somewhere nice. There's a new Italian place Brooklyn. Little Mom and Pop restaurant." Bucky nodded a little, humming. The moment was ruined by Tony's laughter. </p><p>"You two look like a domestic living magazine from the thirties!" He crowed. Steve crossed his arms. </p><p>"And what about it?"</p><p>"You're rich!" Steve scoffed. Sure, they had a decent amount of money now, but rich?</p><p>"He's right." Natasha's voice came from the corner, nearly buried in a beanbag chair. "You two have a lot more money than I think you realize."</p><p>Bucky spoke up. "Like what?"</p><p>"Well, Steve, you have one bank account with 70 years of backpay from the army. Plus, there's a ton of money in another account from all the S.H.I.E.L.D. work you did before you took them down. Turns out, even though they were Hydra, they didn't think it was right not to pay you."</p><p>"I was being paid?" Steve gasped. Tony laughed again. Steve had just thought he was volunteering. Sense of patriotism and all.</p><p>"And you, Bucky," Nat continued, "Have multiple Hydra bank accounts that are now in your name."</p><p>Bucky stiffened at the mention of his involvement with Hydra. "Why would they give their killing machine money?"</p><p>Natasha shrugged. "They didn't. When we took them down, we used up a lot of the money for the Avengers and to repair damages done. With what was left, we decided who deserves the money more than you?"</p><p>Steve grinned. "Looks like you can stop mending that sock, Buck." He chuckled. "We're rich."</p><p> </p><p>The next day, they both took the info Natasha had provided them and checked their account balances. They really were rich. Steve was nearly a billionaire. Bucky wasn't far behind. They were both nervous at the prospect of having that much money.</p><p>"This is gonna change life, isn't it?" </p><p>Bucky shrugged. "It doesn't have to."</p><p>"Buck, we can't just sit here with all this money and do nothing!"</p><p>Bucky nodded. "So why don't we do something?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The next day, Bucky and Steve were on the news. When they appeared at the team dinner that night, Natasha was beaming with pride. Tony pat them on the back. The chosen charities was a topic of conversation. The children’s hospitals were obvious, with Steve’s history. They didn’t get why he had donated to the abuse shelters, though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I always spent a lot of my time beating up people who didn’t treat women right,” Steve started, but Bucky butted in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“More like being beat up by those people, but continue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure. I was beat up. But I was always standing up to the guys who didn’t treat women right. I thought that maybe that would’ve gone away by now. It’s better, but it’s not gone. I gotta help.” Bucky beamed and wrapped his arm around Steve’s waist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about you, Barnes?” Tony pointed his fork at Bucky. “Wounded Warriors, I get. But the animal shelters?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bucky shrugged. “Those animals have been through a lot most of the time. Some haven’t even had a home outside of a crate. Some don’t remember what it’s like to be loved. But they all deserve a chance, right?” The table was quiet at this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next week, Steve and Bucky’s apartment had five new residents, a litter of kittens.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Captain America and The Winter Soldier regularly attend fundraising banquets and dances. What surprises them, however, is the press and invitations for Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. It feels good to be known as just themselves. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They live well, and end up moving into a bigger, nicer house. (The ungodly amount of cats living in the apartment might also encourage the move.) However, they still go out to eat on pay day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Betrayal</strong>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve was coming back today. Bucky knew this. So, he tidied up the place. He vacuumed the cat hair from the upholstery. (Steve didn't approve of cats sitting on the couch.) He took out the trash, bringing the empty wine bottles with. He swept the floors. He baked a loaf of sourdough bread. But, most importantly, he rehid the cookies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cleaning finished, Bucky changed into some reasonable clothes and settled himself down on the couch in front of the television. Bucky loved being able to watch movies without going to the theater. He smiled when he heard the fumbling at the door and the muffled cursing, but opted to stay on the couch.<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door opened and Steve sighed. He shoved his way into the entry, kicking the door closed behind him. “Bucky!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m watching a movie, Rogers, can’t it wait?” They laughed as Steve made his way to the couch, holding all of his tac gear. Steve leaned over Bucky to give him a quick kiss before he put his gear away. Their lips met and Bucky sighed. Steve gasped and pulled away, dropping his tac gear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes darkened. “You’ve been eating my Thin Mints.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bucky’s eyes widened. “I most certainly did not! That’s- a mint! I ate a mint.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve crossed his arms. “Likely story.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bucky laughed. “Okay, I had a couple Thin Mints.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve’s face reddened.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The neighbors were too polite to mention the shouting fest the next time they saw Steve and Bucky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Fridge</strong> <strong>Magnets</strong></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bucky’s arm was, in fact, magnetic. The vibranium isn’t pure, and it has enough linings and wiring in it that the arm is magnetic. The Avengers adored this fact. He would wake up with messages tacked to his arm using magnets. Depending on the person, it would be a different type of message. Steve would leave things like, “I’ll be back soon” and “We need milk” under a Captain America shield magnet. Natasha would put meeting briefings on his arm, along with invites to parties under her hourglass magnet. Tony would leave notes about Avengers get-togethers and appointments pinned underneath a magnet made to look like Iron Man’s mask. Sam was always a bother, though. Sam had purchased a set of fridge magnets, which he used to spell out things like “bitch” and “dick”. Bucky always got revenge, though. Usually involving sharpie markers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another thing the magnetic arm was handy for was embarrassing Steve. With all this new freetime, Steve had taken sketching back up. Bucky loved it. Steve was an amazing artist, and he loved watching Steve work. And to see the finished products. Whenever there was an especially good sketch, Bucky would snatch it up and, before Steve could protest, he’d put it up on his arm, under his own custom magnet. Bucky’s magnet was white, but read “I got brainwashed by Hydra and all I got was this stupid magnet”. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, Bucky’s new arm caused a stir a lot of the time, but it was worth the fun.</span>
</p>
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